Wanna make sure I'm doing this right

kansascutie81

Okay so I have started my weight loss journey a few weeks ago. I weighed 225 pounds at 5 feet 1 I started working out on a recumbent bike for cardio and since I'm so out of shape I started at 10 minutes 3x a day for 6 days now I'm up to 30 minutes 3x a day 6 days a week. I am suppose to eating around 2668 calories a day (which I am finding hard to do, most days I'm lucky to get 1000) and that's with me eating a good breakfast, moderate lunch and light dinner. I don't eat junk good or drink sodas and no white bread. I saw another post on here that talks about TDEE now for me to keep losing weight do I need to calculate my TDEE then subtract 500? And another thing when I made a account on here did it take into factor my TDEE or just my BMR cause I know your not suppose to eat less than your BMR and that's my trouble is trying not to eat less than the alloted calories

koreangurl

If you take your TDEE and subtract 500, you would lost one pound in a week. One pound is 3500 calories so 500 multiplied by 7 is 3500. Is 2658 your cutting calories? seems a bit high

Afura

Are you trying to lose weight? I'm 5'8 and at 244 I'm only at 1330 to lose, so 2668 seems astounding to me.

kimny72

OP, I would make sure your stats and goals are entered correctly. Also, is that 2668 including exercise you are logging? You might be logging calorie burns that are too high.

Having said that, if you aren't really hungry, you are eating more than 1,000 calories. Check that you are logging accurate portions (it's best to use a food scale for as much as you can) and choosing correct database entries - there are many entries in the database that were entered incorrectly by users.

Ohjeezitskim

That does seem high. I'm obviously different at 5'3'' SW of 185 and I was set at 1400. Maybe go back in and see if everything is measured right? Weight/height/age/activity level ect.

erinc5

Did I read this right that you are on a bike for 90 minutes per day, 6 days a week, and you aren't eating more than 1000 calories per day?

I agree with others that 2600 seems a bit high, but surely you'd be able to eat to 1500 or so?

erinc5

Also it says you started a few weeks ago. How much did you lose so far and how many weeks was that? Figuring that out will reveal your true deficit.

kansascutie81

I downloaded a app on my phone aside from this app and when I put in my current height, weight, age and sex that 2668 is what it came up with now if I go by what this app says I have consumed 1000 calories today and still have 1309 remaining but I don't know if that is with my TDEE calculated into the daily alloted calories intake. And everything I log is to a T weight and portion.

erinc5

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I downloaded a app on my phone aside from this app and when I put in my current height, weight, age and sex that 2668 is what it came up with now if I go by what this app says I have consumed 1000 calories today and still have 1309 remaining but I don't know if that is with my TDEE calculated into the daily allotted calories intake. And everything I log is to a T weight and portion.

2668 seems too high. What app was it? Are they saying you should eat that much to lose, or to eat that much to maintain?

MFP recommendations seem way more accurate (1000+1309 remaining = 2309 total). What is your MFP goal set to? 1 lb per week? .5 lb per week?

Just based on your stats given, online calculators have you eating around 1700 to lose at a 20% deficit - does MFP have your baseline calories somewhere around that? MFP has the deficit built into that number if you set your goal to lose weight. Then, you'll need to log your cycling on top of that (MFP will add calories for this activity), but be careful not to overestimate calories burned.

kansascutie81

When I started 2 1/2 weeks ago I weighed roughly 225 I now weigh 219 and yes I spend 90 minutes a day 6 days a week exercising. When I set this account up with my height my weight and activity level which is all correct because even though I exercise I put it at sedentary lifestyle, it says my goal is 1540-1110+879 remaining 1309

erinc5

Again, though. You say you've been at this for a few weeks? Have you lost weight? How many calories have you been eating?

Basically, if you've been at this for a few weeks, what are you not happy with? What are you looking to change?

kansascutie81

I've lost 6 pounds and I just want to make sure I'm not starving myself. Erin I am not sure what they have I know it says on my home screen for this app goal 1540 - 1,110 (food) + 879 (exercise)= remaining 1309

kansascutie81

I'm not trying to maintain my weight or bulk up I am looking to lose weight and right now my realistic goal weight is 170 then when I reach 170 I will reset my goal to what I really want to weigh which is 130

erinc5

kansascutie81 wrote: »

When I started 2 1/2 weeks ago I weighed roughly 225 I now weigh 219 and yes I spend 90 minutes a day 6 days a week exercising. When I set this account up with my height my weight and activity level which is all correct because even though I exercise I put it at sedentary lifestyle, it says my goal is 1540-1110+879 remaining 1309

Okay. So that seems like good progress.

Here is an explanation of what I believe you are seeing for these numbers:

1540-1110+879 remaining 1309

1540 is your MFP baseline calorie goal based on the weight loss goal you picked (2/1/1.5 lb per month), your height, age and weight, and your chosen activity level. This is based on your NEAT (I believe) and has the deficit built in (1000 cal deficit for 2 lbs per week, 500 cal deficit for 1 lb per week, etc..)

1100 is the food you've input into your diary

879 is what you've manually input for exercise or gained from a tracker (like fitbit)

1309 is what you have left to eat.

It's really up to you to eat all the workout calories or not. Many people think they are overestimated and only eat about half.

You should really try to hit the 1540 goal, though. And since you work out so much, I think you should eat back SOME of your earned calories if you are hungry. Pull back on how many you eat if you stop seeing the weight drop

capaul42

I usually only eat back around 50% of my workout calories since I've been told before that they aren't always accurate and can sometimes be inflated.

erinc5

If you aren't sure what "goal" you set for weight loss, you can go to the "Goal" section in the app. In the iphone one it is the 3rd choice in the "more" menu.

kansascutie81

I have a app that is a TDEE calculator and it has estimated my TDEE to be 3,392 so going with the theory of what I read on here I should create a deficit from that of 500 calories leaving it at 2,892 and if that BMR calculator is right (and mine is 2827) I can still support my BMR of 2,827

erinc5

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I have a app that is a TDEE calculator and it has estimated my TDEE to be 3,392 so going with the theory of what I read on here I should create a deficit from that of 500 calories leaving it at 2,892 and if that BMR calculator is right (and mine is 2827) I can still support my BMR of 2,827

What calculator are you using? I've tried 3 and I get that your BMR is about 1700. 2900 is too high for sure.

erinc5

I think you should continue eating around 1540 and adding back some workout calories.

capaul42

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I have a app that is a TDEE calculator and it has estimated my TDEE to be 3,392 so going with the theory of what I read on here I should create a deficit from that of 500 calories leaving it at 2,892 and if that BMR calculator is right (and mine is 2827) I can still support my BMR of 2,827

When you started MFP and put in all your stats and goals, it figured out your NEAT number (daily calories) which is TDEE - deficit for goal (500 per day for 1lb per week). You don't really need to use another app to calculate your TDEE. I really can't see your BMR being so high unless you're very highly active. BMR is basically what you'd burn in a coma as I understand it.

ridge4mfp

Okay, it looks like MFP has given you 1540 as your daily goal (that's before exercise). If you are truly burning something like the 879 calories with exercise, you are not eating nearly enough. You should be eating a minimum of 1200 net (food - exercise). You either need to increase your food intake or cut down the exercise. Be aware, however, that many exercise estimates are way high. Are you getting those estimates from the MFP database or your bike?

kshama2001

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I have a app that is a TDEE calculator and it has estimated my TDEE to be 3,392 so going with the theory of what I read on here I should create a deficit from that of 500 calories leaving it at 2,892 and if that BMR calculator is right (and mine is 2827) I can still support my BMR of 2,827

MFP uses the NEAT method, not TDEE. Why not just use MFP for now and come back to TDEE when you get closer to goal?

benevempress

Perhaps you should show us the math and inputs that you are using in those TDEE and BMR calculators, since they seem really high. Like erinc5, I get close to 1700 as your BMR (the amount of calories you burn in a coma). That is the minimum you should eat to support your brain and organ function and that number will get smaller as you get smaller and older. Your activity level or whether you eat exercise calories or not doesn't affect that number.

Saying your BMR is 2827 and your TDEE is 3392 means you're only burning about 570 calories in your daily activities, which you obviously are exceeding with moving around and biking for 90 minutes per day so I think both of those numbers are wrong (BMR is too high, difference between BMR and TDEE is too small).

kansascutie81

I just used a calculation from another post on here and here is what I got if my bmr is estimated at 2,827 for a sedentary lifestyle and my TDEE is estimated at 3,392 and I want to lose 20% body fat I would multiply 3,392 by .20 to get 678.4 deficit then I subtract 3,392 and 678.4 giving me a new calorie intake of 2,713.6 which means I will still support my BMR and still allows me to eat under my TDEE amount. Thank you all for your help

benevempress

Your BMR is not affected by your lifestyle. It is the calories you burn being alive and not moving AT ALL. It cannot be 2827 because if the calculator you are using is asking for your activity level, it isn't BMR. Plus, you are claiming that if you eat 2713 you will "support my BMR" of 2827. You can't support your BMR by eating less than that number. Your estimators as well as your understanding of this math is wrong.

Total Daily Energy Expended (TDEE) = Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) + Calories burned by moving, including exercise. Your BMR should be close to 1740. You know better than I do how much activity you have in your life, but if you set MFP to sedentary, I'm guessing you aren't burning over 1000 - 1500 extra calories every day.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/#result

You said you wanted to make sure you aren't starving yourself. In that case, eat at least 1740 per day so you give your brain and other organs what they need. Then you can take the time to figure out the rest.

erinc5

kansascutie81 wrote: »

I just used a calculation from another post on here and here is what I got if my bmr is estimated at 2,827 for a sedentary lifestyle and my TDEE is estimated at 3,392 and I want to lose 20% body fat I would multiply 3,392 by .20 to get 678.4 deficit then I subtract 3,392 and 678.4 giving me a new calorie intake of 2,713.6 which means I will still support my BMR and still allows me to eat under my TDEE amount. Thank you all for your help

I'm sorry to be a drag, but I really think you are calculating things incorrectly. There is absolutely no way that your BMR is almost 3,000. As a 5'1 female you'd need to be closer to 500 lbs to have that BMR.

I might believe that your TDEE is 2800 and that you should eat 500 calories under that, but even that seems high to me.

Feel free to try out eating that much, but I predict you are going to be gaining weight.

TxTiffani

I enter my exercise because it makes me feel good to enter it and I manually chg the calories burned to about 50ish% of what MFP shows burned. Some days I eat it back and some days I don't...just depends on how hungry I am that day:)

kansascutie81

Like I said those numbers for my TDEE came from another app I downloaded after I downloaded this app and yes clearly 3000 calories a day is a lot and I am not trying to achieve that much calorie intake. If I still have remaining calories is that a good thing or bad thing

kansascutie81

On another app I downloaded it says my bmr is 2081.46 which seems a bit more realistic for me and my height and weight and activity level now I just need to know how to figure what my true TDEE number is any suggestions

kshama2001

MFP uses the NEAT method, not TDEE. Why not just use MFP for now and come back to TDEE at some later point?

thunder1982

kansascutie81 wrote: »

On another app I downloaded it says my bmr is 2081.46 which seems a bit more realistic for me and my height and weight and activity level now I just need to know how to figure what my true TDEE number is any suggestions

Activity level has no relevance to BMR. BMR is what you need to keep you body functioning. TDEE is calculate using a multiplier times your BMR

EG (Now different TDEE calculators will use different multipliers this is one example)
Little or No Exercise: TDEE = 1.2 x BMR
Light Exercise/Sports 1 to 3 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.375 x BMR
Moderate Exercise, Sports 3 to 5 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.55 x BMR
Heavy Exercise, Sports 6 to 7 Times Per Week: TDEE = 1.725 x BMR
Very heavy exercise (e.g., physical job; training 2x/day): TDEE = 1.9 x BMR

I personally dont like these as to me theres a lot of room for variation eg how hard you actually work out etc.

If you are using TDEE you should have calories remaining otherwise you are going to maintain your current weight which is not your goal. How many yo have remaining will depend on how aggressive your weight loss goal is. Using TDEE you dont eat back exercise calories.